The end of the world is approaching, I'm handing myself over to the country.

Lin Mo's answer froze Sparrow in its tracks.

Why?!

The sparrow's voice suddenly rose in pitch, carrying a hint of offensive sharpness.

Why would you know? There's no relevant information in my database! There's no indication that the Wither Territory is searching for a specific item!

Lin Mo put down the cup she was wiping halfway, turned her head, and finally looked at him properly.

You're just overthinking things.

Lin Mo suddenly understood what it meant to be too clever for one's own good.

This sparrow, or rather the system, is accustomed to using data to analyze everything, and to searching for logic and patterns from massive amounts of information.

But he forgot that sometimes, things don't have to be so complicated; the answer you're looking for is right beside you.

Not getting a response, the sparrow became even more persistent. It flew up from the counter and hovered in front of Lin Mo.

Just tell me, will it kill you to tell me?

Lin Mo held up a finger and pointed it at him.

"You~"

The sparrow's little head bobbed rapidly, its wings flapping so fast they left afterimages.

【Uh-huh.】

Lin Mo withdrew his finger, chuckled, and turned to walk towards the back of the shop.

"Just guess."

"Hahaha!"

A few words, spoken lightly, made the sparrow so angry that it spun around in circles several times.

Finally, it let out an angry chirp, transformed into a black lightning bolt, and chased after Lin Mo, chattering incessantly as it went.

This is shirking responsibility! We are partners, and information sharing is a fundamental principle!

[Believe it or not, I'll report this to the authorities immediately and put it on your non-cooperation record!]

[Lin Mo! You stop right there!]

Ignoring the noise behind him, Lin Mo walked straight into the forging room.

In the center of the forging room, a weapon embryo, still unfinished, lay quietly.

He ignored the sparrows still buzzing in his ears, picked up a special carving knife, and placed it over the source fire to burn.

Seeing that he ignored her, the sparrow became even angrier and landed directly on his shoulder, pecking at his neck with its tiny beak.

[Say something! Are you mute?]

Lin Mo's movements remained steady, without the slightest tremor.

He took the red-hot carving knife from the source fire, its tip shimmering with an eerie light.

The whole world seemed to fall silent at that moment.

The sparrows' chirping stopped abruptly. He could sense that Lin Mo's entire aura changed as he picked up the carving knife.

Focus, extreme focus.

Lin Mo bent down, focusing all his attention on the weapon before him.

What he needs to do is the final step, and also the most crucial one.

Inscribe runes.

Using mental power as a knife, the depth of each cut and the direction of each stroke must be precise to the millimeter, without any error.

Time slipped away little by little amidst the sounds of carving knives rubbing against weapons.

The sparrow perched quietly on his shoulder, not daring to flap its wings even slightly, for fear of disturbing him.

Finally, with the last stroke of the pen.

The entire forging room fell silent.

Immediately afterwards, a blinding golden light burst forth from the weapon, instantly filling the entire room!

Amidst the light, Lin Mo slowly straightened up, holding the fully formed weapon in his hand.

He looked down at his masterpiece, a long-lost, genuine smile appearing on his face.

"My A-rank source soldier proficiency has finally reached 100%!"

This heartfelt sentiment softened even the dazzling golden light.

The sparrow, which had been angrily pecking at Lin Mo's shoulder, froze completely.

His small, beady eyes reflected the weapon flowing with golden runes, and he even forgot to flap his wings.

【Congratulations......】

The sparrow instinctively opened its mouth, but then stopped, as if the internal data flow was running at high speed.

Lin Mo ignored him, instead lovingly stroking the newly created weapon.

The perfect streamlined shape, the just-right weight, and the slight humming sound emanating from the stable operation of the internal rune structure all captivated him.

Reaching 100% proficiency means he has completely mastered the forging principles of A-level source soldiers.

From now on, we won't have to rub the dough by hand anymore.

Given enough materials, he could easily utilize the general store's weapons factory to achieve mass production.

Seemingly sensing Lin Mo's thoughts, the sparrow on his shoulder finally recovered from its shock. He cleared his throat and reminded him in a businesslike tone:

[While that's true, I still need to remind you. The core materials for forging A-grade source soldiers require the corpses of lord-level monsters. This requirement limits the number of A-grade source soldiers available, making large-scale equipment deployment unlikely.]

Lin Mo's smile remained unchanged.

A lord-level monster?

This might have been a problem in the past, but now...

Just as he was about to say something, the sparrow's eyes suddenly lit up, and the whole bird fluttered excitedly.

[Player detected to have reached the target area. Coordinates recorded!]

Upon hearing this, Lin Mo's eyes immediately lit up.

"It really is a double celebration."

He placed the newly forged A-grade source weapon on the workbench, making a crisp "clang" sound.

"Sparrow, issue a new event announcement."

The sparrow immediately perked up, hovering in front of Lin Mo, looking all ears.

Please provide instructions.

"Let's call the event 'The More the Merrier'."

"The activity is simple: survive in unknown areas, kill monsters, and explore unknown regions to earn varying amounts of points."

【receive. 】

"In addition," Lin Mo added, "we will launch a public points mall for the event."

The sparrow nodded its little head rapidly, then vanished in a streak of light, clearly going to carry out an order.

......

at the same time.

On the outskirts of the Withered Territory lies a dark forest that no player has ever set foot in.

"Be careful, something's not right here." One player lowered his body and looked around warily.

A cloying, rotten smell filled the air. The towering trees blocked out the sun, making the entire forest seem eerie and sinister.

They were among the first top player teams to respond to the hidden mission and explore the new map.

Just as they were preparing to explore further, a familiar, emotionless system notification sounded in everyone's minds at the same time.

[Server-wide Event Announcement: The "The More the Merrier" event has officially begun.]

[Event Details: You can earn event points by surviving in unknown areas, defeating monsters, and exploring new territories.]

[Event Rewards: A dedicated event points shop is now open; players can redeem rewards themselves.]

The sudden announcement stunned the entire team.

"A new event?"

"Unknown area? Isn't that what they mean by this place?"

"Points Mall? Let's open it and take a look!"